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What Is My Birthstone?
Pick your birth month to see your modern and traditional birthstones, what they mean and how to tell the real thing from a fake.
Choose your birth month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
DecemberBirthstones are gems tied to each month of the year. The modern list was standardized in 1912 by the American National Association of Jewelers and updated a few times since (alexandrite in 1952, tanzanite in 2002, spinel in 2016), while the traditional list goes back centuries and sometimes names different stones.
Choose your month below. Each page covers the modern and traditional stones, their color and meaning, look-alikes to watch for, and links to StoneSnap's identification guides for each gem.
Birthstones by month
Here is the complete modern list, with traditional stones in parentheses where they differ.
- January: Garnet
- February: Amethyst
- March: Aquamarine (traditional: Bloodstone)
- April: Diamond
- May: Emerald
- June: Pearl, Alexandrite, Moonstone
- July: Ruby
- August: Peridot, Spinel (traditional: Onyx)
- September: Sapphire
- October: Opal, Tourmaline
- November: Topaz, Citrine
- December: Turquoise, Tanzanite, Zircon (traditional: Lapis Lazuli)
Modern vs traditional birthstones
The traditional list descends from the twelve stones of Aaron's breastplate in the Book of Exodus, later mapped onto the zodiac and then the calendar months. Because ancient names did not match modern mineralogy (the Greeks called any blue stone sapphire, for example), jewelers in 1912 published a standardized list built around gems that were actually available and durable enough for jewelry.
Several months gained a second or third stone later so buyers had an affordable or more durable option: moonstone and alexandrite for June, tourmaline for October, citrine for November, zircon and tanzanite for December, and spinel for August. Any stone on either list is a legitimate birthstone for the month.
Is my birthstone real?
Every birthstone has a cheaper look-alike: garnet and red glass, amethyst and purple glass, aquamarine and blue topaz, turquoise and dyed howlite, ruby and red spinel. The quickest checks are hardness (a real gem usually scratches glass), temperature (crystals feel cold, glass and plastic warm quickly) and magnification (glass shows round bubbles). StoneSnap's identify guides list the tests for each stone, and the app can match a photo against the full catalog in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my birthstone?
Your birthstone is set by your birth month. Pick your month above to see the modern and traditional stones for it.
Can a month have more than one birthstone?
Yes. June, August, October, November and December each have two or three official birthstones, and most months have a traditional alternate as well.
Are birthstones the same as zodiac stones?
No. Birthstones follow calendar months; zodiac stones follow star signs, which span parts of two months. Take our zodiac stone quiz to compare.
What is the rarest birthstone?
Alexandrite (June) and fine ruby (July) are the rarest gem birthstones. Tanzanite (December) comes from a single deposit in Tanzania and may run out within a generation.
